morosely

American  

[muh-rohs-lee] / məˈroʊs li /

adverb

1. in a sullen, gloomy, or ill-humored way.

   Falling silent, the old sailor became quite glum, and seemed morosely unwilling to answer any more questions.

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Other Word Forms

• supermorosely adverb
• unmorosely adverb

Etymology

Origin of morosely

morose + -ly

Explanation

When you do something morosely, you do it in a sullen, moody way. When you sit on the couch, sighing and looking sad because you didn't get invited to your friend's party, you are sitting there morosely. Morose means gloomy or in a bad mood, so whenever the adverb morosely describes your actions, you're not feeling very cheerful. There is an element of crankiness in the word morosely, which you can even see it its Latin root, morosus, which means "peevish." So when you do something morosely, you're not just sad, but you're making sure everyone knows how you're feeling.

Example Sentences

Shakespeare wrote of the seven ages of man, ending morosely, “sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025

Sitting morosely in the midst of the destruction, one of his relatives, Dima Saraya, 41, recounted what she described as a living nightmare that left her a widow.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 26, 2025

Still, throughout the series, one of the recurring visual motifs for this character has been water: Kendall sinking morosely into a bathtub; Kendall falling face down into a pool; and so on.

From New York Times • Apr. 30, 2023

Now, however, Trump usually appears alone, rather than flanked by Pence and the rest of the task force, and reads morosely from a script.

From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2020

He sat morosely with his elbows on his desk, cradling his chin in his hands.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

Related Words

• wistfully